Developer Builds Apartments At Frisco Square

Developer Robert Shaw got his start building apartments in Dallas' Uptown district, then took the tollway north to new deals in Addison and West Plano. Now, Mr. Shaw is heading farther north with a project in Frisco. He's signed on to build apartments in the Frisco Square mixed-use project on Main Street, just east of the extension of the Dallas North Tollway. "We're doing the housing piece for the project," Mr. Shaw said. "The first phase is 286 units. "We are starting that in January – as fast as we can get it planned."

Begun in 2000, Frisco Square is owned by investment group Fairway Equities and includes retail buildings, office space and housing along with the Frisco City Hall and library. In August, Addison-based investor Behringer Harvard purchased a stake in 48 acres of land and buildings.

Mr. Shaw said he decided to begin building apartments in Frisco Square in part because of his long friendship with the project's general partner Jim Leslie. He's also keen on the location. "With the toll road extension opening, it's a lot closer than it used to be," Mr. Shaw said.

In all, he hopes to eventually build almost 800 apartments at Frisco Square. That doesn't sound out of reach given his track record down the tollway in the Legacy Town Center in West Plano. At Legacy, Mr. Shaw has built 1,000 rental units on the south side of the project. And he's currently got 370 apartment units under construction north of Legacy Drive. "We are fixing to break ground on another 480," he said. "That's one of the best apartment markets in Dallas, in my opinion."

He ought to know. Mr. Shaw began building urban apartment communities in Uptown in 1990. After developing several successful projects in Uptown, he migrated to Addison and built the award-winning Addison Circle mixed use development. From there, he leap-frogged to do deals in downtown Plano and in the Legacy Town Center. He recently put the more than 1,000 apartments his firm developed in Legacy up for sale. Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP is marketing the properties to investors. Mr. Shaw is also currently building an apartment complex at the Firewheel Town Center in Garland.

With the success of luxury apartments at Legacy Town Center, Mr. Shaw's move north to Frisco makes sense, said Greg Willett, vice president of research with apartment consultant M/PF YieldStar. "It makes sense to me that it would be the next step for him to go to that area," Mr. Willett said. "He has been right on every one of them so far."

Frisco Square's Mr. Leslie – who was one of the original partners with Mr. Shaw and Roger Staubach in apartment developer Columbus Realty – said the new rental project will be a good fit with his development. "We're lucky to have Robert doing something with us," Mr. Leslie said. "He'll be a great addition to the project."